


Beside The Seaside

by kathkin



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 19:59:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4492731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathkin/pseuds/kathkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“Look, mate. You take us to the year five million or, I don’t know, the fall of Troy or something, that’s impressive. But this is – what, Blackpool? And it’s the off season.”</i> In which the Doctor, Jamie and Polly gang up on Ben.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beside The Seaside

“Now, what a lovely day.” The Doctor stretched out his arms. “Look at that sky!”

Ben shrugged, his hands already buried in his pockets. “S’alright.”

“’Alright?’” echoed the Doctor. “Well, really. I bring you all the way across time and space in my _beautiful_ machine and all you can muster is – is – _alright_?”

They’d begun to drift down the street where they’d landed towards the promenade and the beach. It was quiet in a way only a town early in the morning could be. Polly decided it was about seven or eight o’clock. The only other people in sight were a man with some fishing nets away down the beach and a tramp asleep on a bench.

“Look, mate,” Ben kicked at a stone on the pavement. “You take us to the year five million or, I don’t know, the fall of Troy or something, _that’s_ impressive. But this is – what, Blackpool?”

“Southend-on-Sea,” Polly supplied. “I’ve been here.”

“Southend-on-Sea,” said Ben. “In –” He picked up a discarded newspaper from a nearby bench. “Nineteen-eighty-seven. Cor, that’s practically next Tuesday. _And_ it’s the off season.” He nodded at a row of closed-up hotels.

“Hmmph,” sulked the Doctor. “Well, some of us _like_ being by the seaside. Eh, Polly?”

Polly looked at the steely expanse of the sea and hugged herself. “It’s a bit cold,” she said.

“I like it,” Jamie chipped in.

The Doctor beamed. “At least _some_ people aren’t ungrateful.” With that, he reached into his coat and brought out his recorder, which he toyed with, arranging his fingers upon the notes. When he was satisfied, he began to play, jauntily and rather badly, _I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside_.

“Oi!” Ben snapped. “You stop that.” The Doctor just looked at him and played louder, his recorder squeaking on the high notes. “Will you stop it?” He made a grab for the recorder. The Doctor danced out of the way, missing a lamp-post only by serendipity. “Polly! Shut him up.”

What he expected her to do, she couldn’t imagine. Besides, she was too busy smothering laughter. “Doctor,” she wheezed, “um –” She’d been going to say something about it being early and people sleeping, but before she could spit it out Ben made another grab for the recorder and the Doctor spun away, hopping over a manhole cover.

Jamie, meanwhile, had clambered up onto the seawall. As he picked his way down the wall, he began to hum along – rather more tunefully than the Doctor was playing, Polly thought. “Da-da-da- _dum_ -dum-dum –”

“Don’t you start!” Ben wailed, hands clasped to his head in indignation. “You don’t even know the words.”

“Oh, aye?” said Jamie. “What are the words?”

“It goes,” said Polly as the Doctor played on – he’d almost got the hang of the tune now – “Oh, I _do_ like to be beside the seaside – I _do_ like to be beside the sea –”

The Doctor reached the steps to the beach and bounced his way down. Jamie jumped off the wall, landing with a crunch of sand.

“Poll-eee!” Ben protested. Polly ignored him, singing cheerily to herself as she followed the Doctor down to the beach. They sang through the whole chorus twice, once for Jamie to get the words and once for the fun of it. Then, with a last flourish, the Doctor put his recorder away. “Thank _God_ ,” said Ben.

The Doctor didn’t pay him any mind. “I’m going for a paddle,” he said, stepping out of his shoes and socks. “Anyone fancy joining me?”

Ben snorted. “Not likely.”

“I’ll come,” said Jamie, already half out of his shoes. Polly watched the pair of them toddle off down the beach, bare-shod, and winced at the Doctor’s distant exclamation at the cold.

“Bit like a pair of kids, aren’t they?” Ben put his hands on his hips and stared at the Doctor and Jamie with the air of a not-so-proud father. 

Polly was about to agree when it occurred to her that that would make _her_ Mum, and she just couldn’t face that. “Oh, good grief,” she moaned, and kicked off her shoes. “I’m going in the sea.”

“Alright,” Ben shrugged.

“And _you’re_ joining me.” Ignoring his protests, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him down the beach.


End file.
